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CU-Boulder Alumni Association announces 83rd annual awards ceremony

October 12, 2012

The tradition of honoring the University of Colorado Boulder’s best began in 1930 and continues today as the CU-Boulder Alumni Association announces 10 prominent alumni, faculty, staff and students whose outstanding service, energy and professional achievements demonstrate what it means to be a part of the University of Colorado Boulder family. They will be recognized at a free public ceremony at the Hotel Boulderado on Thursday, Nov. 1.

The George Norlin Award honors outstanding alumni for their careers and service to society. Recipients of the 2012 Norlin Award are Michael Brown, a 1990 graduate with a CU-Boulder bachelor’s in geography who is one of the world’s most accomplished adventure filmmakers; and Gene Lucero, a 1978 graduate with a bachelors in business who is a civic leader, particularly in the Chicano/Latino community, and who won the Denver Realtor of the Year award in 2004.

An admissions officer and the dean of education will receive the Robert L. Stearns Award in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to the university. Ryan Chreist earned his bachelor’s in kinesiology in 1996 and a master’s in public affairs in 2009. He is extremely instrumental in bringing students to the university, working at the CU-Boulder admissions office overseeing recruitment for all undergraduate programs within the state of Colorado, the rest of the United States and abroad. The second Stearns award winner is Lorrie Shepard, an alumna and dean of the CU-Boulder school of education. She received her master’s in education in 1970 and her doctorate in 1972. She is an outstanding education researcher.

Three alumni are being recognized with the Alumni Recognition Award. Roe Green, who earned her bachelor’s in communications and theater in 1970, funded the department’s first fully endowed faculty position and is the chief executive officer of the Roe Green Foundation, which supports victims of domestic violence, Jewish federated giving and performing arts programs and the arts, particularly arts education. Bill Harris attended CU-Boulder in the early 1960s. He is an avid supporter of all things Buff and a community leader. He served with great distinction as both the director of the Alumni C Club (a group of lifetime supporters of Colorado athletics who are CU letter winners) and assistant athletic director before retiring in 2009. Rebecca Roser earned her master’s speech, language and hearing sciences in 1975 and was a faculty member who supervised graduate students and directed clinical services at the speech, language and hearing sciences clinic. After retiring she and her husband funded the Roser Visiting Artist Endowment at CU-Boulder among other contributions to the university.

Todd Mosher, armed with a 1995 master’s in aerospace major and 2000 doctorate, will receive the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. He has mentored more than 20 summer interns in his various jobs and has hired many CU alumni. He’s one of the men and women behind the Dream Chaser, the space vehicle that will carry astronauts to and from a low orbit.

The Leanne Skupa-Lee Award for admissions assistance will go to Brian Corcoran, a1990 bachelors in business graduate. A tireless participant in college fairs across eastern Massachusetts during the last decade, Brian says his goal is to spread the word about CU and all of the wonderful things the school has to offer.

Finally, the Forever Buffs Student Award will go to CU student government president Brittni Hernandez. She has volunteered many hundreds of hours in the community.

The Nov. 1 awards ceremony kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at the Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th St. in Boulder, with registration and light appetizers. The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a reception with heavy hors’d hoeuvres, dessert, a complimentary drink and a cash bar at 7 p.m. The event will be emceed by Chris Vanderveen, a 1996 journalism bachelor’s recipient of CU and a 9News reporter. Attendees to the free event are asked to register at http://www.cualum.org/back2boulder/.